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Sir
Edmund Hillary
His
Life & Adventure
(Editor’s
Note: May 29th
marked the 50th anniversary of New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary’s
ascent of Mt. Everest, the first human ever to scale earth’s tallest peak. The
New Zealand-based Sir Edmund Hillary Trust graciously consented to allow us to
reproduce this discussion of Sir Hillary’s feats.)
Beginnings
1919 - 1952
Raised in the country
town of Tuakau, Edmund Hillary was a solitary schoolboy who dreamed of heroic
adventures. After two years at university and service in the Royal New Zealand
Air Force, he joined his father Percy and brother Rex in the family beekeeping
business – and developed a passion for mountains.
Hillary completed many
successful climbs over snow and ice in the New Zealand Alps, and in 1951 he
traveled to the Himalayas. That year he and the legendary British climber Eric
Shipton were the first to see a possible southern route up Mount Everest from
Nepal.
Approach
to Everest
Invited to join the
1953 British Everest Expedition, New Zealanders Edmund Hillary and George Lowe
met the other climbers in Katmandu on 8 March, 1953.
Over a 16-day walk
they traveled through breathtakingly beautiful and steep country. Trees, plants
and flowers reflected the rising altitude – from 4,344 feet (1,324 meters) at
Katmandu to 12,717feet (3,876 meters) at Tengboche Monastery, their first base
camp.
They observed Sherpa
people living in the Solukhumbu valleys, below Everest, their Buddhist beliefs
everywhere apparent. Stone chortens, colorful prayer flags, and walls of many
stones repeated the prayer, Om Mani Padme Hum, “Hail to the Jewel in
the Lotus.”
High
Adventure: The Ascent of Everest 1953
Since 1921, Europeans
had been attempting to climb Everest, the highest mountain in the world – the
“Mother Goddess of the Universe,” called Chomolungma by the Tibetans and
Sagarmatha by the Sherpas. Many had died in the attempt.
But extraordinary
organization, teamwork and courage enabled this expedition of 14 climbers and 22
Sherpas to live high on the slopes of Everest for seven weeks without injury.
And at the last, when Hillary and Tenzing climbed to the summit, the expedition
was crowned with triumph.
Antarctica
1956 - 1958
Inspired by the
achievements of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton 50 years before, the
Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was a joint British-New Zealand project.
The British party, led
by Dr. Vivian (Bunny) Fuchs, established Shackleton Base and traveled overland
to the South Pole, then on to Scott Base. Their vehicles were Tucker Sno-cats.
The New Zealand team,
led by Sir Edmund Hillary, established Scott Base, and traveled to the South
Pole, setting food and fuel depots for the British to enable them to complete
the crossing.
The New Zealanders'
vehicles were Ferguson farm tractors, equipped with tracks over the tires, and
roofless canvas cabs.
The
Silver Hut 1960 - 1961
How do human bodies
adjust to thin air at high altitude? Could the adjustment process be improved by
living for some time above 18,000 feet?
To answer these
questions five men lived in the Silver Hut through a Himalayan winter at 19,500
feet. They then attempted to climb Mount Makalu without supplementary oxygen.
The expedition also
searched for the truth about the mysterious yeti. Sherpas never doubted its
existence and climbers had photographed unexplained footprints in the snow. But
was it a spiritual reality or a physical creature? The Yeti hunt was sponsored
by World Books Encyclopaedias and the party included Marlin Perkins, television
personality and director of Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
Schoolhouse
in the Clouds
Since the first school
at the village of Khumjung opened in 1961 with 40 pupils, Sir Edmund Hillary's
Himalayan Trust has built schools, hospitals, clinics, bridges and airstrips;
repaired and rebuilt monasteries; recruited voluntary doctors, trained and
equipped teachers and nurses, and provided tertiary scholarships for Sherpa
youth.
All these projects
have been in response to requests from Sherpa people, and carried out with their
assistance. Sir Edmund is a greatly loved and respected figure. In the Solu
Khumbu region he is known as the Bara Sahib, “big in heart.”
Sagarmatha
National Park
Aware of the stress
placed by mountaineers and trekkers on the alpine forest environment of the
Sherpas, Sir Edmund Hillary approached the Nepal and New Zealand governments
proposing that a national park be established in the valleys below Everest. Both
governments agreed.
When the Park opened
in 1976, New Zealand provided funds and initial forestry and park staff, and the
Himalayan Trust established nurseries and funded training for Sherpas in park
management.
Sagarmatha is the only
national park in the world in which people carry out their normal lives. It is
now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From
the Ocean to the Sky 1977
In an adventure that
became a cultural pilgrimage, Sir Edmund Hillary and his New Zealand/ Indian
team traveled up the River Ganges from the Bay of Bengal to its source in
Himalayan snows.
Their three Hamilton
jet boats – Ganga, Kiwi and Air India – were met and
welcomed by hundreds of thousands of people who thronged the shores of the river
to see the great Hillary, Everest climber, making a pilgrimage on Mother Ganga,
the holy river of India.
Sir Edmund's affection
for India was warmly reciprocated by its people, and in 1984 they welcomed him
again as New Zealand's High Commissioner.
View
from the Summit
With his wife June,
Sir Edmund Hillary continues to work for environmental, youth and Himalayan
projects, constantly in demand as a speaker and leading a busy and active life.
Fifty years after he first climbed in the Himalayas, he has an indelible bond
with that part of the world, but is recognized and admired everywhere.
The recipient of
innumerable awards, honors and tributes, yet known for his wry humor and
modesty, Sir Edmund remains calmly unaffected by the accolades heaped upon him:
“I am a person of modest abilities, but I have a great deal of determination.
And once started on a project that I want to do, I don't give up easily.'
New
Zealanders take great pride in this extraordinary, ordinary man. A beekeeper
from South Auckland who is now a world-wide symbol of physical stamina, courage,
determination and humanitarian service: Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG ONZ KBE.
To visit the Hillary Trust’s web site, go to: www.hillarytrust.co.nz/hillary2.html